Alright, we've run through the suggested window for mockups, so I'm submitting what we have to Phoenix. Although it would be nice to have a good mock-up with the alternate view of the GameBoys, people seem pretty comfortable with what we have, and when we get the designs back from Phoenix, we can always change our minds and get a redo if we're convinced another view would be better. So Wheels, if you're still working on the alternate view, it's not too late, if you submit it and everyone loves it, there's still time to pull things back. But I do want to make sure we start getting some estimates before we really hit the holiday season.
Edging is now 14 for reeded, 19 for smooth, so I'll ask Eric to give us our quote based on the (cheaper) smooth edge option.
Reeded - X3R0 9, EchoZero, Traitorious, punzie, OysterPrime, vttym, PayneTrayne, zerzhul, testsubject23, Arithon32, griffin.bruce, marcfonline, Thirmuri, WackBag
Smooth - Jerkfish, Lady Amalthea, lauren42, Themiscyra, Komi, gerafin, tvethiopia, flatline, kemikal, Khadour, KoalaBro2, rileyper, ishtra, Kiki_lou, Josh5890, Nullzone, flubbedpython, laivindil, Crippl3
Alright, we have a response from Phoenix. Please see their design below:
Off the cuff, my one piece of feedback is that I'd rather not have the leg of the bridge on the bottom touching the M in "Boston, MA". I note that they did get the Bunker Hill Monument on, so that's good.
One question is how people feel about the modifications to the GameBoy side. A and B buttons aren't explicitly labeled, and speaker lines don't go all the way to the corner. At first I felt like we should give them some feedback on that, but upon reflection, I now wonder whether having them be "not perfect" GameBoy clones might be good for keeping them generic. But I could swing either way on that if people have strong feelings. As I indicated, I don't think we really have any serious intellectual property concerns here, but it also never hurts to be overly cautious.
I actually really like the Gameboy image. Only thing I can say is to have the spacing on either side of the cable be equal.
For some reason, the bridge image is not resonating with me.. I get flashbacks of Flight Simulator or something. Then again, the other buildings being non-descript does bring out the bridge more, so I guess I'll let it grow on me.
I actually really like the Gameboy image. Only thing I can say is to have the spacing on either side of the cable be equal.
For some reason, the bridge image is not resonating with me.. I get flashbacks of Flight Simulator or something. Then again, the other buildings being non-descript does bring out the bridge more, so I guess I'll let it grow on me.
I agree with everything above! I think the cables should be in the same spot on both gameboys but otherwise am happy with that. The Bridge image, doesn't even really look like a bridge... It looks like some sort of monument. I don't know what's wrong exactly, maybe there isn't the appropriate depth I think in the image. Thoughts?
I don't frequent the forums often but 2013 will be my first PAX East so I have been reading as much as I can. Saw this thread and I've been kicking myself ever since. I love the idea of the coins and am very sad I haven't known about this so that I can get the coins made for Prime. I really want a coin for East and I love the design.
I think both sides look great as is, though I'm definitely not opposed to the touch-ups suggested. Keep in mind that, on a coin 1/10th of the size of what you're seeing on the screen, combined with the inherent upgrade in quality embossing and putting it on real metal, it's going to look a lot better than these hard-edged, blown-up mock-ups.
I'm not sure if those sentences made sense, but you get my point.
A few points on the bridge side:
1) I agree that if we can avoid the text touching the bridge itself, that'd be good.
2) The top of the bridges don't look like a pyramid on a square column - the dimensions look rushed and should be touched up if possible. Same goes for the footpoints on the further side - they don't look as 3D as they should. Perhaps if the cables were thinner lines than the rest of the outlining this would look better?
3) The lines on the roadway ought to be fixed - the original image was a time lapse so there were lots of headlight lines, but we should make it look more like a four-lane highway on each side of the main columns and a 2-lane highway on the outer part of the bridge (which looks right here), rather than a collection of dashed and non-dashed lines.
These are all pretty minor, I'm decently happy with what they gave us. It's hard to tell with the shading how the embossed coin will look, but as gerafin mentions, it will be even better than these mock-ups. Excited to see such great progress!
I'm far from a lawyer, but I think the GameBoys look sufficiently generic, and quite good. Phoenix's spacing is much improved over the mock-ups, making the cable much less of an issue than it used to be. (Agreed on fixing the cable placement, btw.) Part of me would still like to see how the 3D design would turn out if they worked with it, but I'm fine with how the flat design looks.
For the bridge, yes, let's keep it from touching the text. And I defer to Lauren and her ideas for further improvement, because she's clearly our expert on that side of the coin.
The design looks awesome on both sides. As far as changes go, I definitely agree with the folks who feel like the "M" in MA would look better if it weren't touching the structure of the bridge, and I like the idea of having a symmetrical distance between the cord and the two Game Boys. When it comes to the level of detail in the graphics themselves, I really think that they will look far different (and better) on an actual metal coin than they do in a two-dimensional mock-up, so in my opinion it's just right.
I love Vttym's comment about the background in the bridge graphic looking like Flight Simulator. If you ask me, that's actually really cool... it adds a subtle nostalgic quality to the design. Much as I love the awesome graphics we've got today, sometimes I love firing up DOSbox and reveling in some good old-fashioned blocky pixellated awesomeness.
In all my life, I have learned three important things:
1. Don't panic.
2. Always know where your towel is.
3. On no account allow a Vogon to read poetry at you.
Alright, so the list of corrections I have is:
1) Move the bridge so it's not touching the text.
2) Correct the lines on the roadway (the first two roadways should have 3 dashed lane lines, the third roadway should have 1)
3) Third roadway should have separation from the second roadway so that the supports don't look 2-dimensional.
4) Pyramids on tops of supports should be correctly aligned to bases.
5) Connection points for cables on the GameBoys should be the same on each.
Maybe also note that the zig-zag of the cord should be symmetrical. That might happen naturally when they move the connections, but you know, just in case.
Gameboy side: I kind of like that the cord zigzag isn't 100% symmetrical. I can see that the cords don't connect at the same spot on both and that can be fixed. Other than that, it's great.
Bridge side: I think they could possibly do away with the lane divisions altogether. Agree that it shouldn't touch the M but maybe the leg on the farther one should come down a little more. I think that's part of the reason it looks like the bridge is floating: the legs shouldn't end at the road.
While I agree that the zig-zag not being symmetrical is perhaps more authentic, I just feel for something like this, it should be symmetrical. And let's be honest, if authenticity is what we're going for, playing on a 4" cord isn't it
Obviously just my opinion, but that's a second issue: not just the location of the "port" on the side being the same on both, but the space between the cord and the gameboy being the same as well.
I know it was discussed that there was a chance to have some minor tetris-like blocks on the screens since we now have a more up-close shot of the screens. Is this still in the works? Nothing crazy, but maybe a couple pieces on each screen?
Sorry guys I couldn't get my concept in had some other issues that came up all week and couldn't finish it. I do like their design, and the suggested tweaks above.
Im voting for smooth, I like the idea of changing the edges every year.
Badges: Check, Flight/Train: Still Planning, Place to Stay: Check
Gameboy side: I kind of like that the cord zigzag isn't 100% symmetrical. I can see that the cords don't connect at the same spot on both and that can be fixed. Other than that, it's great.
Bridge side: I think they could possibly do away with the lane divisions altogether. Agree that it shouldn't touch the M but maybe the leg on the farther one should come down a little more. I think that's part of the reason it looks like the bridge is floating: the legs shouldn't end at the road.
Without any lane divisions, it's going to look very empty in the middle of the bridge, and it should be a relatively quick fix for them to change this bit. I definitely agree with the far leg of the bridge needing a ground support that matches the closer leg. Maybe make the closer footpoint a bit smaller and the further one bigger so they match each other and no longer touch the text.
There seems to be some controversy about whether the cable should be symmetrical or not. We'll get the insertion points corrected, and that will naturally increase symmetry somewhat, but I won't worry about precision on that particular detail given that there's dissension on the point. Alright, I've submitted our corrections, and I'll let you know what we get back.
The design looks good. I vote for reeded edge, & prefer an unsymmetrical cable. I loved the coin from this year's PAX East & gave one to each of my group as a memento.
0
eloThat guy over there...Smoke stack central, NJRegistered Userregular
Wow. The design looks great. I haven't been able to get on and check it out in a few weeks, but I really want one now
Great design and I actually like the asymmetry of the cables...it's like a subtle authentication technique to prevent counterfeiting. :-)
As a side note, I've just recently begun perusing the forums and am kicking myself that I never knew about the coins for past PAX events. Is there perchance a way to acquire those previous coins currently? (specifically PAX East 2012)
Great design and I actually like the asymmetry of the cables...it's like a subtle authentication technique to prevent counterfeiting. :-)
As a side note, I've just recently begun perusing the forums and am kicking myself that I never knew about the coins for past PAX events. Is there perchance a way to acquire those previous coins currently? (specifically PAX East 2012)
There might be a few floating around. You could PM the organizer of the east 2012 coins (the thread is around here somewhere).
Alright folks, I've gone back and forth a couple times with Eric getting the issues we identified cleaned up. As gerafin noted, this is all going to look a lot better on a coin, we don't need to nitpick every tiny detail on these blown up shots. But, if you see any legitimate issues, please let me know ASAP. Otherwise, I'm inclined to approve this as is.
Ok.. maybe it's just an optical illusion or I'm not looking at it right, and apologies if this was mentioned before, but am I the only one who thinks the right posts of the bridge lose depth as you go from the top to the bottom? Up top, near where the right and left posts meet (dead center of the coin), both posts have depth and look nice. The left post maintains this depth all the way down, but the right leg goes from 3D to 2D as it gets to the bottom. It happens on the smaller one in the background too.
Is this intentional?
A possible solution to solve this would be to have the two sides of the right leg have different coloring, so the one facing out be white, and the inside part of it be dark. This would help visually pop out the depth, and fix the flat look.
Ok.. maybe it's just an optical illusion or I'm not looking at it right, and apologies if this was mentioned before, but am I the only one who thinks the right posts of the bridge lose depth as you go from the top to the bottom? Up top, near where the right and left posts meet (dead center of the coin), both posts have depth and look nice. The left post maintains this depth all the way down, but the right leg goes from 3D to 2D as it gets to the bottom. It happens on the smaller one in the background too.
Is this intentional?
A possible solution to solve this would be to have the two sides of the right leg have different coloring, so the one facing out be white, and the inside part of it be dark. This would help visually pop out the depth, and fix the flat look.
I wonder, though, how the coloring is going to translate over into etching, and if the subtle illusion here won't be noticeable as a result.
Remember, this stuff is not going to be colored, it's going to be stamped. So don't worry about "illusion of depth," because it will actually HAVE depth, by virtue of being a 3d coin.
Did we specifically push an issue that created that very wide gap in the bridge lanes? I was expecting a small gap for the other sections so that the right legs of the bridge didn't come down to nothing, but the new giant gap in the middle of the bridge is rather odd and much further from reality...everything else on both sides looks fine to me. I'm just confused about that new change.
EDIT: I guess the coloring is throwing me for a loop, and that dark gap may not show up on the coin at all? Apologies for the post if this is the case.
Dark generally indicates recessed. The original image actually does have a fair amount of space between the two roadways, although it's more of a center divider than a gap. Are we comfortable with the size if it's not recessed, or do you think it really needs to be narrowed?
Real gap is very narrow and *centered* around where the cables come down. This one looks really off to me, and there ought to be another gap where the right/far bridge supports come down that isn't shown, throwing it off even more. I mean, just look at the bridge from the other side:
If we don't have that big gap between the far two lanes past the bridge support at all, why do we have a gap you can barely see on most pictures? I guess my point is that it's such a big change and if I had to choose, I'd take the first response from them with all the other little problems over this one. I hate to cause more work for you and for them; a really easy fix would just be to have them change the recess so there are no gaps anywhere. That would be better. It would just look like an extra lane that no one would notice.
Nah, not a problem, I just want to make sure I go back out with the right response. Like I said, the center divider is actually wider than you might think. If you superimpose the current image on top of our original reference image, the center divider is about the same width as the gap they added. It wasn't something I told them to do (looking carefully over my email chain, I see that they actually introduced it in an intermediate revision, but didn't recess it until the latest revision, for reasons which are known only to them). So I just wanted to check whether you wanted the gap out, or just not recessed. It sounds like you'd prefer it out, which is fine, I've responded accordingly.
I guess it's more that the gap doesn't look centered. If it were really narrow, it could be recessed, but I think at this point no gap is the easiest alternative so I agree with your conclusion.
And I don't see how the center divider is reasonable compared to the source image. Maybe I'm just missing it.
What I was getting at is if you add the width of both the gap and the raised divider, the total "non-road" section is similar in width to the gap that they had on there. But it's academic, I had them take it out, so we should be good now, and a quote should be coming soon.
I just booked my hotel and registered for PAX East '13 (my first PAX ), and found this thread. Want!
Any news on when/how we'll be able to get these?
Just keep watching this thread. The design is being finalized now, and once we have the final price quote, the price per coin can be calculated, and a link to place orders will go up in this thread.
Do unto others 20% better than you would expect them to do unto you, to correct for subjective error - Linus Pauling
are we almost to the shut up and take my money phase! I want to throw my money at this asap =D coin looks amazing just make sure you make mine with extra luck cause im going to go around swareing its my lucky coin =D
are we almost to the shut up and take my money phase! I want to throw my money at this asap =D coin looks amazing just make sure you make mine with extra luck cause im going to go around swareing its my lucky coin =D
Posts
Edging is now 14 for reeded, 19 for smooth, so I'll ask Eric to give us our quote based on the (cheaper) smooth edge option.
Reeded - X3R0 9, EchoZero, Traitorious, punzie, OysterPrime, vttym, PayneTrayne, zerzhul, testsubject23, Arithon32, griffin.bruce, marcfonline, Thirmuri, WackBag
Smooth - Jerkfish, Lady Amalthea, lauren42, Themiscyra, Komi, gerafin, tvethiopia, flatline, kemikal, Khadour, KoalaBro2, rileyper, ishtra, Kiki_lou, Josh5890, Nullzone, flubbedpython, laivindil, Crippl3
Off the cuff, my one piece of feedback is that I'd rather not have the leg of the bridge on the bottom touching the M in "Boston, MA". I note that they did get the Bunker Hill Monument on, so that's good.
One question is how people feel about the modifications to the GameBoy side. A and B buttons aren't explicitly labeled, and speaker lines don't go all the way to the corner. At first I felt like we should give them some feedback on that, but upon reflection, I now wonder whether having them be "not perfect" GameBoy clones might be good for keeping them generic. But I could swing either way on that if people have strong feelings. As I indicated, I don't think we really have any serious intellectual property concerns here, but it also never hurts to be overly cautious.
For some reason, the bridge image is not resonating with me.. I get flashbacks of Flight Simulator or something. Then again, the other buildings being non-descript does bring out the bridge more, so I guess I'll let it grow on me.
I agree with everything above! I think the cables should be in the same spot on both gameboys but otherwise am happy with that. The Bridge image, doesn't even really look like a bridge... It looks like some sort of monument. I don't know what's wrong exactly, maybe there isn't the appropriate depth I think in the image. Thoughts?
I guess what I'm really trying to say:
I'm not sure if those sentences made sense, but you get my point.
1) I agree that if we can avoid the text touching the bridge itself, that'd be good.
2) The top of the bridges don't look like a pyramid on a square column - the dimensions look rushed and should be touched up if possible. Same goes for the footpoints on the further side - they don't look as 3D as they should. Perhaps if the cables were thinner lines than the rest of the outlining this would look better?
3) The lines on the roadway ought to be fixed - the original image was a time lapse so there were lots of headlight lines, but we should make it look more like a four-lane highway on each side of the main columns and a 2-lane highway on the outer part of the bridge (which looks right here), rather than a collection of dashed and non-dashed lines.
These are all pretty minor, I'm decently happy with what they gave us. It's hard to tell with the shading how the embossed coin will look, but as gerafin mentions, it will be even better than these mock-ups. Excited to see such great progress!
For the bridge, yes, let's keep it from touching the text. And I defer to Lauren and her ideas for further improvement, because she's clearly our expert on that side of the coin.
I love Vttym's comment about the background in the bridge graphic looking like Flight Simulator. If you ask me, that's actually really cool... it adds a subtle nostalgic quality to the design. Much as I love the awesome graphics we've got today, sometimes I love firing up DOSbox and reveling in some good old-fashioned blocky pixellated awesomeness.
1. Don't panic.
2. Always know where your towel is.
3. On no account allow a Vogon to read poetry at you.
1) Move the bridge so it's not touching the text.
2) Correct the lines on the roadway (the first two roadways should have 3 dashed lane lines, the third roadway should have 1)
3) Third roadway should have separation from the second roadway so that the supports don't look 2-dimensional.
4) Pyramids on tops of supports should be correctly aligned to bases.
5) Connection points for cables on the GameBoys should be the same on each.
Any other issues? Anything I missed?
Bridge side: I think they could possibly do away with the lane divisions altogether. Agree that it shouldn't touch the M but maybe the leg on the farther one should come down a little more. I think that's part of the reason it looks like the bridge is floating: the legs shouldn't end at the road.
Obviously just my opinion, but that's a second issue: not just the location of the "port" on the side being the same on both, but the space between the cord and the gameboy being the same as well.
I know it was discussed that there was a chance to have some minor tetris-like blocks on the screens since we now have a more up-close shot of the screens. Is this still in the works? Nothing crazy, but maybe a couple pieces on each screen?
Im voting for smooth, I like the idea of changing the edges every year.
Without any lane divisions, it's going to look very empty in the middle of the bridge, and it should be a relatively quick fix for them to change this bit. I definitely agree with the far leg of the bridge needing a ground support that matches the closer leg. Maybe make the closer footpoint a bit smaller and the further one bigger so they match each other and no longer touch the text.
As a side note, I've just recently begun perusing the forums and am kicking myself that I never knew about the coins for past PAX events. Is there perchance a way to acquire those previous coins currently? (specifically PAX East 2012)
There might be a few floating around. You could PM the organizer of the east 2012 coins (the thread is around here somewhere).
Is this intentional?
A possible solution to solve this would be to have the two sides of the right leg have different coloring, so the one facing out be white, and the inside part of it be dark. This would help visually pop out the depth, and fix the flat look.
I wonder, though, how the coloring is going to translate over into etching, and if the subtle illusion here won't be noticeable as a result.
Sounds good - I should know better than to doubt at this point
EDIT: I guess the coloring is throwing me for a loop, and that dark gap may not show up on the coin at all? Apologies for the post if this is the case.
If we don't have that big gap between the far two lanes past the bridge support at all, why do we have a gap you can barely see on most pictures? I guess my point is that it's such a big change and if I had to choose, I'd take the first response from them with all the other little problems over this one. I hate to cause more work for you and for them; a really easy fix would just be to have them change the recess so there are no gaps anywhere. That would be better. It would just look like an extra lane that no one would notice.
And I don't see how the center divider is reasonable compared to the source image. Maybe I'm just missing it.
Any news on when/how we'll be able to get these?